All Questions
37,996
questions
2
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3
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175
views
Prince Rupert' Drop Armor: How Expensive?
I recently saw this short which showed that, if you melted the tail off of a Prince Rupert's Drop, the head would retain its characteristic toughness without the vulnerability of the tail. This got my ...
- 577
0
votes
1
answer
45
views
What color would the sky be in a multi-star system?
In this scenario, an Earthlike planet is situated in a quaternary solar system clumped into two binaries--a Parent, in which the planet orbits, and a Grandparent, in which the Parent binary orbits.
...
- 14.6k
9
votes
1
answer
465
views
Chemical Coin Flipping as Divination
Let me explain what the odd title means. In the I Ching, a book of ancient Chinese divination, there is a process of using 50 rods to produce what is essentially a binary outcome. The details aren't ...
- 199
-4
votes
4
answers
112
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What conditions would allow this trojan horse be implemented on a universal scale?
A while ago, I posited this question "How to counteract a trojan horse when the horse is the anti-virus software?"
It seems that real life has presented an answer.
Major economic impact ...
- 10.4k
1
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3
answers
125
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Would a species with 3 sexes be more adept at warfare and hard labor compared to humans? [closed]
For my fantasy story, I was trying to conceive of a three-gendered species for more uniqueness. I finally thought up an idea that might make biological sense. For mammals, the male sex has the sperm ...
- 4,453
-1
votes
0
answers
52
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What would sunsets look like around different star types? [migrated]
I have always wondered what a sunset would look like around different types of stars. I have tried to do some research into the types of light refraction, but I cannot find any answers anywhere, and ...
- 189
-1
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0
answers
65
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Reasons/excuses to evolve and retain handlike manipulatory appendages [closed]
As you may know, humans' arms and hands are a direct callback to the times when our ancestors lived in more arboreal settings (monkey swing on tree type stuff)... we needed to be able to grip branches ...
- 517
8
votes
1
answer
606
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The Lost Continents of Atlantis and Mu reappear: Disruption to Transport
In a single event, the lost continents of Atlantis and Mu arise from the deeps over the course of about half an hour, accompanied by a low-magnitude earthquake felt worldwide.
For the purpose of this ...
- 63.4k
4
votes
3
answers
192
views
Is it possible for plant life to evolve (and adapt) on a low CO2 planet?
C4 photosynthesis, which can operate in Carbon Dioxide levels as low as 10ppm
A question related to these two questions:
Habitable inner planet with large oceans, fast rotation and earth-like ...
3
votes
2
answers
148
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Could a wingsuit using fans be made with our current technology?
Like the MCU's Vulture, could we create a wingsuit utilizing bladed fans for flight? Elsewhere I've looked says it's a problem with the power source, but if that were taken care of, could the rest of ...
1
vote
1
answer
97
views
How would I calculate the damage someone suffered from various strikes? [closed]
So, I’ve been developing a TTRPG and am wanting to present a realistic fantasy world. This doesn’t mean fantastic things wouldn’t happen - demigods can swing swords at the speed of light. But when ...
- 19
6
votes
3
answers
1k
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Would human-shaped sperm cells work?
After looking at videos of sperm cells, they reminded me of someone swimming. I've decided this was a neat idea for me to integrate in my worldbuilding.
For lore reasons, I have a group of people with ...
- 797
7
votes
15
answers
2k
views
What kind of pressures would make a culture force its members to always wear power armour
I'm writing a science-fantasy story where there is a culture that forces its members to constantly wear power armor in public. There are different types of armor depending on the specific job the ...
- 111
-2
votes
0
answers
68
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How can a respiratory/vocalization system support both ingressive and egressive speech?
In the background information for the default setting of the Traveller RPG, the Aslan are a vaguely leonine/humanoid species whose language is specifically called out as having ingressive sounds (...
- 1,424
2
votes
2
answers
108
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Can mammal hypothetically evolve their own version of unidirectional breathing?
As the title suggests, can mammal evolve unidirectional breathing? Not the same as in birds but still qualifies as a unidirectional breathing.
(I was trying to make a future mammalian species ...
- 21